Recent Posts: Out of My Mouth

Y’all remember middle school? Maybe you’ve tried to forget but I know you remember those braids your mamma finally let you get. You remember when she made you take them out when you got that C on your report card too. Or that time your friend dared you to walk in the men’s bathroom and […]

Two years ago, I was single. I was 30 years old. In single girl years, that’s about 42. By that time, I had dealt with the roller coaster of emotions that come with the territory when you’re a somewhat traditional woman who wants the whole husband, children, house by a certain age – an age […]

I recently ran across a short story I wrote about five years ago. I was happy that it popped up, remembering that it had been my first attempt at writing prose. I thought I’d read it and be impressed with myself, maybe even inspired to build on it or create something new. I read the […]

Let’s take a moment to imagine what it would be like to have been in Dr. King’s posse, his crew. Imagine him rolling through your hometown on his way to his next planned protest, asking to stop by your church and commune with your congregation. Maybe practice his next televised speech. Maybe speak to the […]

I’m not sure what’s going on in 2019, but we’re 11 days into the year and I’ve been werking – with the e, not the o. Werk is the type you do that’s hard but fun and feels a little fabulous. It shouldn’t be confused with the work you do that’s not all that fun […]

Old White Dudes Aren’t Cool

I read this article the other day called “Why Americans Believe Republicans are Unwilling to Compromise”. Ok, ok, I didn’t read the whole thing, but I read the first few paragraphs (yes, I’m one of those catch-me-in-the-first-few-sentences-or-lose-me and I-want-my-hamburger-right-now-with-no-pickles-please type of people). Anyway, I read this article along with another one about Michele Bachmann, both of which made me think back on the last presidential election and voila! New post.

__________________________________________________________________________________ Before I even start, let me reiterate what I’ve said before: I am nobody’s political pundit. I barely watch the news. I certainly don’t like talking about it. The most I can do without grimacing is watch a little Melissa Harris-Perry on Saturday mornings and read a few Yahoo articles when I’m not too busy at work. You may continue reading with that in mind.

So yeah, like I was saying, old white dudes aren’t cool anymore. Hispanics are in. Young people make the cut. LGBTs are the new new. Black people are awesome. Women are hot. (Duh)

Our country is so diverse. It has actually been diverse since its “founding” because it’s a land of immigrants, but we won’t get into that. Our forefathers took up the business of establishing a set of ideals that would direct the trajectory of the country’s growth according to its priorities. That was cool of them actually. But, the act of creating policy/laws based on a certain set of ideals often alienates whole groups of people or disregard their concerns. The say-so of the majority inherently excludes the concerns of the minority. That’s democracy.

Oh, but buddy boy (or girl), if you’re going to lead this great country, represent one of our states, mayor a city, or even sit on a local board of education, you better be a foot soldier for justice (shout out to MLK)! You better be prepared for all the different kinds of people and all their different kinds of needs. You better not forget them because guess what? They register to vote, homie! Old white dudes (and I really just mean old values that are exclusive of the new cool people in our country) may not be in anymore, but voting has remained the ish, my friend. Yes, I wield my voter registration card like it’s Jay-Z’s black card. Bam! Wham! Pow!

Oh, I can’t buy clothes with my voter registration card? My bad. Yeah, just put all that back and stop looking at me like that. Thanks.

There are light brown people with straight hair; dark brown people with kinky hair; boys who want to marry other boys; girls who want to have babies with other girls with sperm from other boys; young people from the south; even younger people from the Midwest who like to smoke weed; people who make gun ownership mandatory (like, in real life. Check it out); people who’d rather see guns abolished like I’d like to see lace front wigs go away forever; women who don’t want to have babies until they’re ready; grandparents who want to retire comfortably; 35-year-old grandparents who can’t ever retire because their kids had kids; stay-at-home dads; little black girls who aren’t disciplined and yet aspire to be great. Guess who that last one was? M-e.

Conservatism is cool. Liberalism is cool too. Exclusivism, though? Not cool. So yeah, get with the program, policy makers!

*Picks afro, fist bumps a Latino chick, and exits blog*

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I'm Mariah. Jesus is my homie. I live in (and was raised in) the south. I am, as often as possible, actively grateful for my family because I understand their life giving power. Really dislike melodramatics. Really love reading and writing so much so that I aspire to be an author. What else?